In the quiet town of Narrows, Virginia, the life of 38-year-old Arthur 'Woody' Woodrow Palmer III, a respected sergeant at the New River Valley Regional Jail, came to a tragic and unexpected end in early July 2021. For days, something seemed amiss, and on July 5th, his body was discovered inside his home, the silence of the residence broken by the grim reality of a fatal gunshot wound.
His death marked a sudden and violent departure for a man known by his colleagues as a 'terrifically positive person' and a 'quality corrections officer' who had dedicated 11 years to his career in law enforcement, earning a promotion to sergeant in April of the previous year.
The investigation into the untimely death of the male victim quickly centered on his wife, 50-year-old Mary Huskey Palmer. Within days of her husband's body being found, authorities from the Narrows Police Department, with assistance from the Giles County Sheriff's Office and the Virginia State Police, took her into custody. The community was shaken as Mary Palmer was charged with second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Investigators believe that Arthur Palmer was killed in their shared home on July 3rd, two days before his body was ultimately discovered.
Following her arrest, Mary Palmer was transported to the Western Virginia Regional Jail in Roanoke County. She was formally arraigned on the firearm charge on July 14, 2021, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for the following November. At the time of the initial reports, law enforcement had not released a possible motive for the killing. The Giles County Commonwealth Attorney's Office confirmed the ongoing nature of the investigation but remained tight-lipped about the specific details surrounding the case, leaving a community to grapple with the loss of a dedicated public servant and the disturbing circumstances of his death. The ultimate disposition of the charges against Mary Huskey Palmer, including the outcome of any trial or subsequent legal proceedings, has not been publicly reported.
